When Death owes a Favor
by Flame'sWrathRenewed
Summary: What happens when you die at the age of 17 in a bus accident? If Death happens to owe a favor then apparently you get thrown into a world of souless monsters hellbent on destruction, and you have to stop them. Oh well, at least I get this cool ability to live my life as a game, wait, what do you mean not right away? A SI-fic with elements of The Gamer thrown in.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello all! This is Flame'sWrath here, this is actually the first bit of fanfiction I've ever felt proud enough to put on this site, so I ask that you all go easy on me here. This first chapter is short because its a prologue of sorts, future chapters will be much longer as I tend yo get very descriptive when I write. That said I'd like to introduce you all to my first story, When Death owes a Favor.**

You know that old saying about how your life flashes before your eyes just before you die? Yeah, I'm inclined to agree with that saying, seeing as time seems to slow to a crawl as an arrow slowly makes its way through the air towards my heart. I suppose I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here, so first things first, introductions! Hello my name is Akairo Raion, strange name I know, it use to be something a bit more normal but that was before…well I'm getting ahead of myself again. The woman whose arrow is currently on its way towards ending my life is named Cinder Fall, at least that's what she calls herself, not sure if it's her real name though….anyways getting off track again. I suppose this whole story starts when I died, odd place for a story to begin huh?

"Ugh...god, my head is killing me," I say as I grip my head and stand up from my position laying on the hard concrete.

"Jesus! What the hell happened?" I breath out upon looking at the crumpled wrecks of several cars and the public bus I had be riding in shortly beforehand. People are moving around and crowding around the crash, the EMT's checking on those injured in the crash.

"Hey can you tell me what happened? Who started the crash?" I say as I try to grab the attention of one of the EMT's. The man ignores me, even as I wave my hand in front of his face.

"Hey we got one over here!" One of the other EMT's shouts as the crouch next to a figure lying on the ground. The EMT whose attention I was trying to grab turns and heads over to the other. I follow him still trying to get his attention, eventually I try to grab him by his shoulder, only for my hand to pass right through him. The horrifying conclusion that my brain was coming to was further reinforced once I finally caught sight of just who was lying on the ground. Staring at me with its cold lifeless eyes was my own face, blood ran down my forehead and leaked from the corner of my mouth.

"No…..no no no no!" I panic and fall on my ass "That can't be me! I'm right here….somebody see me please!" I plead as the cold realization sets in.

" _ **Hate to break it to you kid but, you are in fact dead, and that is in fact your corpse laying o**_ _ **n the ground there**_." A voice that sounded ethereal and powerful said from right behind me. jumped to my feet in a fit of panic and spun around to look at who had just spoken. Standing there was a figure, I couldn't tell what gender they were because of the outfit that they wore, well I say outfit, but it was less an outfit and more of a long hooded cloak that went all the way to the ground.

" _ **What a way to die as well, ejected from a bus at high speeds while on the way back h**_ _ **ome, it's sad, truly it is.**_ "the figure speaks once more as it looks between myself and my corpse.

"Who the hell are you!? Why the hell can you see me when no one else can!?" I question the figure angrily.

" _ **The answer to both those questions is one and the same. Most recognize me from the c**_ _ **loak alone, but perhaps you need a bigger hint as to who I am.**_ " They say as they stretch out an arm. _What the hell is this person thinking? What do they mean most people recognize them? I've never see this person before in my entire life!_ The figure chuckles for a moment, finding something funny.

" _ **I would be surprised if you had ever seen me before this moment, after all I do come at th**_ _ **e end of one's life.**_ " they say interrupting any further thought. Just as I am about to ask them what they mean I am cut off. Their outstretched hand is no longer empty, now in its hand is a terrifying scythe, the handle made from the spine of some great giant, the blade of a metal so black it seemed to draw in the surrounding light, the whole thing exuded a deep chill that made my body feel as if I was plunged in ice cold water.

" _ **Yes! I am the great reaper of souls! I am Death!**_ " The figure, or now Death I suppose, shouts and spreads his arms apart dramatically.

" _ **Now, while you did die remarkably way before you were supposed to, the fact remains t**_ _ **hat you still died, which means that right now, you need to come with me.**_ " He continues, gesturing with his scythe.

"What the hell do you mean I died before I was supposed too!? If I wasn't supposed to die here then when the hell was I supposed too!?" I question angrily.

" _ **You weren't supposed to die until you in your late eighties, based on the signs I assume y**_ _ **our death was the result of a deal.**_ _**See that guy over there was the one I originally came here to collect, seeing as he's still alive and you're the one that's dying on the concrete over there, I'm assuming he made a deal with one of the other forces, probably Evil…**_ " He answers and trails off. He looks thoughtful for a time before snapping his fingers and pointing at me.

" _ **Hey kid, quick question for you. What do you know about Gaia Theory?**_ " He asks with curiosity.

"You mean like in that manhwa, The Gamer? People chosen by a "god" to receive powers indicative of their personalities? That Gaia theory?" I ask confused as to why Death, brought something like that up.

" _ **Let's see here, died before their time? Check. Between the ages of 15 and 20? Check. K**_ _ **nows about Remnant? They were watching that show on the bus. Knows Gaia theory? Check….hm. Well kid this might just be your lucky day! I happen to owe one of my fellow Forces a favor, and she gave a list of criteria for a, helper of sorts, and lucky you, you happen to meet all those criteria, so….what do say to a second chance?**_ " He says, very much like someone who goes door to door selling a product.

"So what's the catch on all of this? Seeing as you're the physical embodiment of Death, from all the fiction I've read over the years, you really don't like it when people try to cheat you, so what's the catch?" I question cautiously.

" _ **Well kid, you really are smarter than most, anyone else might have just accepted without t**_ _ **hinking of the consequences. The only catch is this, us Forces can't directly interfere with the mortal world, so we need mortals to act as agents of our will, in this new life you'd be doing that for the one I owe a favor too.**_ " He answers with a hint of respect.

"And how do I know that I won't be asked to do something against my morals?" I ask him.

" _ **Well me and the….less pleasant Forces aren't on friendly terms...They tend to make my j**_ _ **ob harder than it already is, and I don't really appreciate that. So if you're worried you'll be asked to go on a homicidal rampage, that won't be the case, but if you don't really believe me, perhaps the fact that I owe the favor to ol' mother nature might calm you down.**_ " He explains in a rather frank manner.

"Mother Nature….? Is that why you asked me if I knew anything about Gaia Theory earlier?" I ask rather confused.

" _ **Yeesss…..that's why I asked….Anyways, are you going to accept the offer or what k**_ _ **id?**_ "He asks in an annoyed tone.

"Fine...I'll take your offer, what happens next then?" I question while crossing my arms in a expectant manner.

" _ **Next…? Next you get to become Gaia's problem, and I get to go back to doing my job i**_ _ **nstead of answering all of your questions, now do try not to die so soon again, I'd rather not have to deal with you within the next five decades.**_ " He says before flicking his wrist as the world around me fell away. What Death forgot to mention was that becoming Gaia's problem meant being stuck in a seemingly endless black void that contained only myself, and what looked suspiciously like a system message from The Gamer manhwa, that read as thus.

" **Hello Chosen! If you're reading this then Death finally got off his ass and found s** **omeone that fit my requirements, I swear that one is so lazy sometimes….sorry got off track there. If Death did what he was supposed to, you should already know who I am, if he didn't….then I'm Gaia! Now then, the reason you're here is that I need someone who knows what those who seek to plunge this world into darkness are planning. This world is the first me and my brothers created together, and I wish for it not to fall into darkness. Your task while here is to prevent their plans from succeeding, to this end, I shall be granting you a new life in this world, along with the power necessary for you to accomplish this. Now that you have been informed of your task, let's get you set up with a new body, please press the next button at the bottom of this screen to proceed to character creation.** " The message was of medium length and as the last sentence had indicated there was indeed a button labeled "Next" at the bottom of the screen.

I pressed the button as the screen blipped out of existence only for another to take its place a moment later. This new screen was vastly different than the one before it, instead of a large wall of text, instead much of the screen was taken up by two silhouettes, one obviously of a much younger age based off of its height compared to the other. The silhouettes were gray at the moment, I could guess that they would become filled in and colored as I continued the creation process. Off to the side of the silhouettes was a section of the screen that consisted of text above a dropbox selector. The first in the admittedly long list of selections was Gender, that was very quickly selected as Male, I am attached to my manhood thank you very much.

The next selection was that of race, this one only contained two options, Human, and Faunus. Death had mentioned something about Remnant in our conversation earlier, but this right here was all the information I needed about what the hell I was getting myself into. I debated with myself for a time on the pros and cons of each choice. If I chose Human I would be choosing something I had been for my entire life, I wouldn't have to deal with the discrimination that Faunus had to deal with. On the other hand, if I chose Faunus I would have the enhanced senses, like excellent night vision, and enhanced hearing, the downside would be adjusting to the extra appendages and dealing with the racism against Faunus.

I eventually decided on Faunus, the bonuses it would give me would be nice and if my job is to stop a monster like Salem, I was going to need every advantage I could get, besides I was used to being insulted, I hadn't had very many friends before this whole situation. I made my selection and continued on through the list, I don't know how long it took for me to play around with the facial features due to lack of a way to determine time, but it felt like quite a while. I had settled on being a lion faunus and tailored my hair and eyes to reflect that decision, choosing a molten gold color for my eyes and a brilliant red for the hair that looked a lot like a lion's mane. Finally satisfied with my appearance I hit the button at the bottom to continue, this causing another much smaller screen to pop up in front of the much larger one. This screen held only the text of Name above another box, clicking it pulled up a keyboard slightly above my waist.

This gave me pause, selecting what might body looked like hadn't bothered me all that much, I had never really felt like what I looked like before fit who I was, but changing my name? My name had been with me from the day I was born, it had become a part of who I was, changing my name felt like leaving a part of myself behind. If I kept it the same it would stick out on Remnant, due to the naming after colors, but at the same time I didn't feel comfortable choosing a name for myself. Spying an icon off to the right of the box I hover my finger over it, causing a screen explaining that hitting this would cause my parents in this new life to chose my new name at random. This would solve my problem, hitting the icon caused a confirmation window to pop up, confirming my selection caused all the previous windows to immediately close, only for one final window to open.

" **Doing all of this you've probably already realized just what sort of opportunity. I'm g** **iving you here, but it does come along with a bit of a condition. Due to trying to preserve your childhood in this new life, you will not receive any new system messages, nor will you be able to pull up any of the menu's until your aura is unlocked, this ability becoming your semblance. One last thing before your soul is transferred into your new body, do not be afraid to tell others of your ability, nor must you fear letting those you become close to know about what is to come, the more that know, the more that can be done to prevent it. I wish you the best of luck Chosen, from Gaia**." This screen has a very large button that held only the the word "Proceed" in large bold print.

Pressing the button caused an intense feeling of fatigue to overcome me as my legs give out underneath me, I struggle to keep my eyes open, but fighting is futile, as I succumb to the blissful peacefulness of unconsciousness. When I came to, I was in a very dark space, it was also very warm and damp. Attempting to move my limbs resulted in only meager results, as I felt my limbs move only slightly. There was nothing to hear in this space either, wait, correction, there was a faint rhythmic *thump-thump* noise, it actually kind of reminded me of...a...heartbeat...The realization of where exactly I was slammed into me. Oh joy, I wonder how long I would have to wait before I was actually born, seeing as I could move at all, and that I could feel my new mother moving her hand over her stomach, I'm inclined to believe I'm somewhere around the halfway point, I can already tell, this will not be the best of experiences.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hey everyone, Flame'sWrath here with the second chapter of When Death owes a Favor. Thank you everyone whose followed and favourited the story so far, you guys are great. One thing that I forgot to put in the first chapter was a disclaimer, so here it is, and I hope you all enjoy this second chapter.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own either Rwby or The Gamer, the series belongs to their respective creators.**

One thing that lots of stories about being reborn don't touch on is that the process of being born is long, and horrifying….I'll spare you the details and just say this, babies have very good reasons to cry so much after they've been born. After finally calming down from the rather traumatizing experience of being born, while fully aware mind you, I was a rather calm baby, at least I think I was, after all babies aren't really known for their memories, or any of their senses. I mean seriously, I could barely see, and everything I could see was blurry as hell! My hearing was muffled as all hell as well, it didn't help that I wasn't used to the lights or sounds since I was only around an hour old, so everything was a cacophony of sound and light. After a while I was fed and burped, which as a teenager inside of a baby's body was an embarrassing experience let me tell you, I started to feel very tired and let out an adorable little yawn.

"Looks like the cub is tired, honey why don't you get a nurse and ask them to take him over to the infant ward?" A feminine voice asks the rooms other occupant. I almost forgot to introduce my parents in this new life, well the woman who is currently holding me and that just spoke is my mother Kira Raion. She was a small thing, standing up she was only 5'4", but damn if she wasn't strong, apparently she broke my dad's hand during labor, if the basic cast on his left hand was anything to go by.

"I'll go do that, do you want me to ask them for anything else while I'm out there?" The man standing by the door to the hospital room asked. This was my father Leon Raion, he in a stark contrast to my mother, was a giant of a man, towering over her with his 6'7" bulky frame. He was heavily muscled, but it wasn't an excessive amount of muscle like some of the bodybuilders back home, all that muscle didn't seem to hinder his movement at all either, so in all likelihood it was a mix of of red and white muscle tissue.

"Can you ask them when I can get out of this ridiculous gown, it makes me feel like an old woman." she says while tugging at the hospital gown she was wearing. Something I could already tell about my mother, even from the short time I've been observing her was that she was a rather blunt woman, she either didn't have tact, or she chose not to use it. My father chuckled a bit at her antics before replying to her as he opened the door.

"I'll be sure to ask them, in the meantime, get yourself some rest, you might try to act tough but my broken hand is testament to the fact that you were in a lot if pain a shirt time ago, this one certainly gave you more if a fight than his older siblings." he says, closing the door behind himself as he goes to grab a nurse. My mother shook her head slightly as she let out a small chuckle at my father's concerns.

"That man…*sighs* more concerned about his wife who's a fully trained huntress and has an unlocked aura when he's the one with a broken hand and no aura to speed up the healing process." It's at this point that she looks down at my bundled up form as she continues to speak. "I can only hope you take more after me than your father little cub, unlike your brother and sister…" She trails of towards the end as my dad comes back into the room accompanied by a woman in a nurses uniform.

"It seems this little one is starting to get sleepy, can you take him over the the infancy ward, I'd do it myself but my lower body is still very sore at the moment."she says as my traitorous baby body causes me to let out another adorable yawn as I valiantly struggle to keep my eyes open against sleep. The nurse says something to my mom as she gently takes me from her arms, but I can't make it as my eyes close and my body gives up the ghost when it comes to the fight against falling asleep. I don't know how long my sleep lasts, as I had no idea of what time it was when I fell asleep, but whenever I woke up I was in a small…bed…thingy, I had no idea what the things were called, sue me. Anyways moving on, I was in one of those baby viewing rooms that every hospital seems to have, I mean seriously why do these rooms even exist? Parents that have to see their children that much? Hmm...maybe the fact that I'm in a baby's body is contributing to my atrocious attending span?

Whatever it was, the facts were thus, I was awake, I couldn't really move on my own, and I was hungry, so I did what any other baby would do in this situation, I cried my little lungs out. It took a minute or two for one of the nurses to notice, and after they noticed it took another minute or so before they had a bottle but I eventually got fed. After being fed and burped, again, the nurse took me back to my mom's room, who was looking much less haggard than what I'm going to assume was last night. Placing me into my mother's arms, the nurse proceeded to give her a rundown of my relative healthiness.

"What date can we take the little cub back home? My husband has told me that his older siblings are starting to get impatient." she asks the nurse with mirth in her voice. The nurse excuses herself for a moment as she grabs the clipboard just outside my mother's room, looking over it for a moment before replying.

"Well Mrs. Raion you've healed up nicely, you could probably head home tonight if you wanted, the little one is healthy but we'd like to keep him for another day or two just to be sure." The nurse says while putting the clipboard back. She looks fearful of something for a moment before shaking her head and mustering her courage.

"Ma'am something I noticed when I was looking through your chart was that the doctor hadn't put down a name yet, would you like me to fix that?" She asks somewhat timidly.

"Yes that would be nice...his name is Akairo… Akairo Raion, my little red lion…" My mom answers as she gives me a look so full of love that it stops whatever I was doing or thinking cold. Before this moment I had been thinking of her and my father as just the people who had brought me into this world, it was this moment that I threw that thought out the window and truly began to see them for what they now were, my parents. After a while of spending time with my mom the nurse took me back into the infancy ward, this pattern if going back and firth from my mother's room to the infancy ward persisted for the next several days as the hospital kept me for observation. During those next few days my senses had started to clear up a bit, I could now hear much clearer than I had before and my sense if smell had improved, unfortunately the improved sense of smell coupled with the clinically sterile environment played merry hell with my sinuses, causing me to constantly sneeze. My eyesight had gotten better as well, it was still blurry as shit but I could see in more detail than that first day.

Another thing that I had noticed was that people's injuries seemed to heal much faster than back home, evidenced by the fact that when my parents were finally able to take me back home, my father's cast for his broken hand had been removed and he seemed to be able to use it perfectly fine. The thing I noticed immediately once we exited the hospital was it was very, very hot outside, and it wasn't just hot either, the air was also very arid and dry. From what has been told to everyone thus far in terms of the four kingdoms, I know that we can only be in one of two places, I was either born in Vacuo, home to practically endless desert, or I was born in one of the more inhospitable parts of Menagerie. Whichever it was the heat didn't last for very long as my parents got into their car and quickly cranked on the AC to cool the car down. The drive home didn't seem to take very long, around five minutes if I had to guess, however much time it took to get there, once we did, i got my first look at the home I would be staying in for the foreseeable future.

It wasn't overly large like some of the houses in this area but it was larger than where I had lived before, it was a two story build and it was painted a rich and inviting cream color, with the exception of the door, which was a deep red, far darker than my bright crimson hair. Entering the house I right away get a feeling of something I can quite put into words, it was like coming home after a long day, and curling up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate. That feeling never really left, but it did fade slightly as my parents showed me around the house, and to my siblings. My sister's name was Sunny, ironic considering her bright blonde hair that seemed to shine like the sun underneath the right light. My brother was named Rowan, whose fiery red hair certainly fit with his name.

"Wow! Is this our new little brother? He's so tiny...were we exert that small Mommy?" Sunny asked awestruck at my tiny form as she reached for my tiny baby hands. I would place Sunny at somewhere around six or seven years old, based on her size and vocabulary, then again depending on if people here grow as fast they seem to heal, I may be wrong. Rowan was much younger than Sunny, at least judging by the thumb in his mouth and the lion plushy in his hand he was.

"Yes little cub, this is your new baby brother, as the older sister it's your job to make sure he stays out of trouble...and to answer your other question everyone was this small once, even your father was as tiny as Akairo is right now." My mother answered as she knelt down to pat Sunny on the top of her head.

"I'll take the bestest care of him! I'll be the bestest big sister ever mommy!" Sunny exclaims as she bounces in place. It seems that her name doesn't just apply to her hair color, it also seems to fit her disposition to a tee as well. Mom chuckles a bit at her enthusiasm before patting her on the head again and saying that she doesn't doubt that she would be for a second. The tour of the rest of the house now includes Sunny put in her own descriptions of all the rooms as she sees them. The tour eventually comes to an end as they finally head into my room for the foreseeable future, my parents set me down in the crib and I slowly begin to drift off to sleep with a smile on my face, maybe Remnant wouldn't be so bad after all.

 **-Five Years Later-**

Time with my new family flew by, before I had really noticed it five years had passed, and what a great five years they were. As I grew, so did Sunny and Rowan, Sunny's personality hadn't really changed all that much during those five years, she was still very bubbly and friendly, but her energy was more...controlled compared to that first day when my parents took me home. Rowan on the other hand was the one who changed the most in those five years, whereas he used to be very shy and self-conscious, now he was a brash and confident eight year old, I think him becoming an older brother caused him to want to become someone for me to look up to. I was the one that had changed somewhere in the middle compared to the others, living in Remnant meant learning all the new customs that came with living in a different world, oh there were still holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, but the explanation for why they were around were different. Thanksgiving is celebrated as the first civil meal that humans and Faunus ever shared way in the past, before the Great War.

Another thing that was different on Remnant was that children were taught to defend themselves from a much earlier age, due to the constant threat of the Grimm, me and Rowan being the ages of Five and Eight respectively, were still too young to begin those lessons, but Mom had recently been teaching Sunny the basics. The house had also changed slightly over the past four years, furniture was replaced, appliances were updated, my room was no longer a nursery and was now a proper room with a proper bed. Today was my first day at Vacuo's preschool, actually that was another thing, a few weeks after my parents took me home for the first time I had concluded that we were in Vacuo and not in one of the worse areas on Menagerie. Anyways getting off track, today was my first day of school in this new life and I was rather excited to learn more about this beautiful and terrifying world.

"Hurry up little cub, or else you might end up late in your first day! You wouldn't want that now would you?" My mom yelled from somewhere downstairs. I had been getting ready but my reminiscing had caused me to become lost in thought. Quickly scrambling around my room to get dressed and to pack everything I would need for the day in my small backpack. I rushed to the stairs in a panic, nearly falling down the stairs in my frantic rush to get downstairs. Mom chuckles to herself as she watches my panicked reaction to her earlier words before speaking from her location in the kitchen.

"Calm down Akairo, you're not going to be late, I just said that because you stopped moving around up there, I was going to go up there and tell you that breakfast was ready, but I thought this would be funnier." She says with amusement. This wasn't the first time mom had pulled something like this, and I seriously doubted it was going to be last, she enjoyed embarrassing me too much for her to stop anytime soon.

"That was mean Mommy, you made me think I was going to be late on my first day at school." I say as I sit down at the breakfast island. That was another thing that my parents took in stride, the fact that I talked like someone who was a year or two older than I actually was, they just brushed it off as I was exceptionally smart. That isn't to say I didn't act like my age from time to time, being a mature five year old isn't very fun and it doesn't make you very many friends, so I tended to put most of that maturity away when around what friends I did have.

"I'm sorry little one, I could resist, you act so serious all the time, I just wanted you act your age for once." She says with an apologetic look on her face. Well damn...now I feel bad about acting so mature all the time.

"I'm sorry Mommy, I didn't mean to make you sad." I apologize as I get down and give her a hug. She pats me in the head, puts me back in my chair, and sets down a plate with bacon, sausage, eggs, toast, and a hashbrown.

"Well little one, if you want to grow up big and strong like you always say you will, you need to eat your breakfast...and besides if you just talk to me for too long you really will be late for your first day." She says as she sits down with her own plate of food. I smile, thank her, and then proceed to absolutely demolish the delicious plate of food she had made. Mom's cooking was literally the best food I have ever eaten, in either life, I had no idea how she managed to make something that looked so simple taste so good. After we both finish eating and I complement mom on her cooking, we both head outside to the car. Climbing into the car, I crawl up into my car seat and start to strap myself in as mom leads her assistance as needed.

The drive to the school didn't take to long, ten minutes at the most, a lot of which I spent taking in Vacuo's particular architecture, the buildings were hardy, built to weather the harsh nature of Vacuo's desert's. Once we arrived, mom helped me out of the car and walked with me up to the doors.

"Remember little one, try not to act so serious all the time, and do try to make some friends please." She pleads as she kneels to look me face to face. The look that mom makes when she wants me to do something should be banned, I literally cannot deny her when she makes that face.

"Alright Mommy, I'll try." I reassure her and I give her a hug before I head inside to find my classroom. It takes a little bit before I manage to catch the attention of the lady in charge of new students, we have a short conversation before she calls the teacher in charge of the room down to the office so he could escort me to the room. His name was Mr. Henderson, he was actually rather young, somewhere in his mid-twenties, he had a kind face with a neatly trimmed beard. He was dressed rather warm for living in Vacuo, suit and tie instead of clothes that showed a lot of skin like almost everyone in Vacuo was used to wearing. He was nice, cracking jokes and asking questions about what I liked and what I knew, typical questions a friendly teacher wanting to know about one of his students would ask.

We reached the classroom after a short walk and he introduced me to the rest of the class before assigning me an empty seat towards the back of the class. He introduced himself and proposed a little exercise for us to get to know each other, he had us turn to one of the people sitting beside us and introduce ourselves. It wasn't long after he asked us to do so before an outstretched hand planted itself in my field of vision, and by not long after I mean a matter of seconds. Following the hand back to it's owner I was fairly surprised by the familiar face that greeted me.

"Heya my name's Sun Wukong! What's your name!?" A very excited and very tiny Sun Wukong greets me. Honestly seeing him here was very surprising, I mean I knew he was from Vacuo, the fact that he went to Haven in the show proved as much, but I was not expecting him to go to my preschool. I realize I've been staring as his face takes on a look of confusion and I shake myself out of my thoughts and greet him back.

"I'm Akairo Raion, nice to meet you, sorry about staring, I got a bit lost in thought." I say extending my own hand to meet his in a handshake. The grin that he flashed me seemed to sparkle as we shook hands, I was half expecting him to say something about Youth but it only lasted for moment.

"It's okay! My gramps does it all the time, though when he does it he gets a really weird look on his face and he turns bright red...and he let's out giggles sometimes." Sun says as he gains a thoughtful expression. I'm not sure I can sweatdrop on Remnant due to this not being an anime but if I could I'm certain I would be doing it right now as Sun describes his grandfather's perverse tendencies. The somewhat peaceful chattering of the classroom was broken as a shout echoed through the school.

"WHY THE HELL IS MY DESK COVERED IN HONEY!?" The shout echoes through the school as Mr. Henderson steps outside to see what's going on. Sun's howling laughter told me everything I'd need to know about who did it, dear lord he was a prankster.

 **-Five years later...again-**

Meeting and then becoming friends with Sun really mellowed out my frankly rather serious personality, his cheerful and laid back attitude was infectious. He had actually convinced me to take part in his pranks a time or two. Anyways time flew and before I knew it it was my tenth birthday, ten whole years since I was born into this world. One thing that I was looking forward to was having my aura unlocked, I had figured out a couple years ago that on my sibling's tenth birthdays my mom had unlocked their aura, it was why Sunny's boundless energy was more controlled than when she was younger. The party was a relatively small affair, family, Sun, and a few kind of friends I had made, the gifts I got had been nice but the gift I loved the most was the one that mom gave me after the party had dispersed.

"Son, when your brother and sister turned ten, me and your father gave them a choice of what they wanted to do with their life, they could follow me and become a huntsman and huntress, people who dedicate their lives to protect those weaker than them, or they could follow your father, become whatever you wanted to. Both of them chose to follow me, now I offer you the same choice, follow me and become someone people look to for protection, or be someone who has an infinite amount of possibilities open to them, but whatever you choose, know that me and your father are proud of you." she says with a serious expression as she lays her hands on my shoulders.

"I know that following after you, Sunny, and Rowan means that I may get hurt, but I don't care! I want to help people like you do Mom! If I had the chance to help people and I didn't take it because I was afraid of getting hurt what kind of person would I be?" I ask with matching Mom's seriousness.

"Well then, I guess that's my answer…" at this she lays one hand on my forehead and the other on my chest, just over my heart.

"For it in passing that we achieve Immortality. Through this, we become a Paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all. Infinite in distance and unbound by Death, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, protect thee." She chants. The words so much more than just words, they were truths of this world. They reverberated in my soul, breaking a wall I never knew was there, the feeling was something I'll never forget, it was like seeing the world in a whole new way. For me I really was seeing the world through a whole new way, if the nametag and question marks for level hanging above my mother's head said anything.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'd like to start off by apologizing for this chapter taking nearly a month, I've recently gotten a job and I'm only off two days a week, combine that with a case of writer's block, and little progress is made. Something that has been brought up by several reviewers is why Akairo would choose to be a Faunus, here is my reasoning. It's been a couple years, but I still remember how much of a mess I was when my Grandma passed away, now imagine that being multiplied for it being your own death, most people would not be in a great frame of mind after such an event. Akairo was trying to think rationally for what exactly he was going to need but his thought processes were not exactly all there at the time. So now that I've explained my reasoning behind Akairo choosing to be a Faunus, Here's the third chapter of When Death Owes a favor.**

 **PS. This story is currently unbeta-ed, if your interested, send me a PM.**

 **Edit 7/22/17: For some reason multiple paragraphs had a blank line after the first line in the paragraph, this is now fixed.**

 **Edit 9/13/17: Changed the HP and AP values to fit a formula, Chapter 4 is coming along and should be out with the next few days.**

 **Disclaimer:** **I do not own either Rwby or The Gamer, the series belongs to their respective creators.**

No matter what anyone or anything tells you, I did not, I repeat, did not perform a happy dance in my room later on that night...it was much more of a spaz attack brought on by being extremely happy. I finally had access to the power I had been waiting ten years to use, now I could become ridiculously strong and throw Cinder's plans into the fire...wait...if the start of canon is still seven years from now, doesn't that mean that all the really big quests that give out tons of Exp. are still that far away too? The realization that my dreams of starting Beacon being able to ROFL stomp any Grimm I wanted too, were no more than dreams caused me to collapse to my knees in sadness. After I recovered from my...ahem...episode, I decided to finally take a look at what all I had available with my new power.

"Alright then, let's take a look at my stats first thing, I want to figure out what exactly I'm dealing with here, Status." I say, and a screen, similar yet different to the one's that I saw while I was creating my new body.

[Name]: Akairo Raion

[Title]: The Gamer

Level: 1

Exp.: 0/200

HP: 110/110*

AP: 500/500*

Str: 5 + 0.5 = 5.5

Dex:9 + 0.9 = 9.9

Vit:5 + 0.5 = 5.5

Int:10 + 5 = 15

Wis:7 + 5 = 12

Cha: 4

Luck: 7

Stat Points: 0

Alright, I understand why my Strength and Vitality are only five, I am after all in the body of a ten year old, but why was there a plus five to my Intelligence and Wisdom? I scrolled down on my screen and found my answers in a section labeled "Perks". It was named "Old(er) Soul" and its description was this, _due to living another life, admittedly a rather short one, before this one, you are smarter and wiser than your age would suggest, granting you a bonus of five Int. and Wis. to your base._ Well that explained the boosts to my Intelligence and Wisdom, but why was my HP and AP so low? I had Observed Mom the first chance I had gotten, I had managed to see her HP and AP, both were in the ten's of thousands, so why was mine in the hundreds, was I just that low a level? No...wait there was the reason, a status effect labeled "Child's Body" it basically halved my AP and cut my HP by one fifth until it was gotten rid of, which came with time.

I scrolled back up to the part of the screen that held my stats and paused...why was there a decimal number addition to my physical stats, they were all a ten percent addition to the base stats, was that a side effect of Aura? I mean a lot of the things that Huntsmen and Huntresses performed were frankly, superhuman, did Aura give a boost to people's physical capabilities? I pulled up the Skills screen to check, it didn't take but a moment to find it seeing as I only had four skills at the moment.

[Aura]: Level 1

 _Infinite in distance and unbound by Death_ …

The strength of your soul is no longer confined to inside your body, your Aura now gives you a barrier to damage and grants you seemingly superhuman physical capabilities.

Passive: Provides you with a barrier to harm, attacks must first deplete your Aura before your HP starts taking damage, additionally grants a 10% increase if your base physical stats.

Active: Changes the 10% increase to 20% but at the cost of expending AP.

AP Cost: 100/sec.

[Exp]: 0/100

That….that had so much potential! Sure right now I could only use the thing for Five seconds before I ran out Aura, but once my stats got up real high that bonus was going to be insane, especially once I leveled it up and the cost of using it went down. Well all my plans for training were crushed right off the bat, but maybe not necessarily total ruined, it would take a while, and the removal of "Child's Body" but I could eventually go out and kill Grimm to get Exp. I finally closed the window for Aura's description and decided to take a look at my meager three others skills, pulling up the skill I had created when trying to look at Mom's stats.

[Observe]: Level 1

 _What have we here?_

Through a keen eye for details, amongst other things, you can now use this skill to get the basic description of an item. When used on a living being it shows you their current HP and Ap, at higher levels this skill may even show you their stats and a small bit of information about them.

AP cost: Free

[Exp.] 5/100

This was a skill that I could easily grind up in levels, at least in the beginning, closing the window I finally go to look at the two skills I already had. [Gamer's Body] and [Gamer's Mind], these were the two skills that granted me the ability to see and interact with the world like a videogame character. I knew what both of them did, but it had been ten years since then so I decided to play it safe and check them out to see if anything was different from what I remembered.

[Gamer's Body]: Level MAX

" _You have arrows sticking out of you!" "But my HP's fine!"_

This skill is what allows you to interact with the rest of the world as if it were a game. Turns wounds into HP damage, this doesn't not mean you are invincible however, permanent damage such as loss of limbs is still possible, such injuries will not be healed.

AP cost: N/A

[Exp.]: N/A

That...that was actually rather different than I was expecting, it may have been the ten years since I had seen the series that this power originated I'm fairly certain that its description was different. That bit about permanent injuries also struck me as something that was a bit odd, most video games didn't have permanent injuries, then again nothing is perfect, it makes sense that even with this power there were limits to what was and wasn't possible. I shook myself out of my thoughts and opened up the other of the two "Gamer's" skills.

[Gamer's Mind]: Level MAX

" _Dude that's a literal army!" "So?"_

This is the skill that allows you to see the systems screens and keep your cool in Life and Death situations. Note: This skill does not remove your emotions, as such a thing is completely barbaric, instead it merely dampens your emotions during stressful situations, like combat.

AP cost: N/A

[Exp.]: N/A

Huh...well that actually put to rest one of the concerns with using this power, in the manhwa it was actually a thought that the main character expressed as well, putting a complete lid on one's emotion never really bode well for their future mental states. I realize that it is much later than I normally stay up once I let out a yawn, huh...well it seems I still need sleep, that's good, if I need sleep that means I probably still need to eat and drink as well. Which was good because, godlike being or no I'd be having some words with Gaia if I never got to taste the food that Mom made again. I figured that this would be a great opportunity to see if my inventory would allow me to equip things on the fly, I tossed my pajamas into the inventory and quickly pressed and held my finger to their miniaturized image, a small drop down box appeared with the options, Destroy, Drop, or Equip. Selecting Equip there was a small flash of light around my body as they appeared in the place of my normal clothes. I hold off on figuring out more about my power for in the morning, and I crawled into bed and dreamt of the future.

To be honest, when I woke up the next morning I thought for a moment that last night had been a dream, the screen telling me that my HP and AP had been restored for sleeping in a bed quickly shut that thought down pretty damn fast. I dismissed the window fairly fast, and then took the opportunity to Observe everything in my room, hey it was easy exp. I wasn't about to miss out on that, especially since Observe could potentially become my most important Skill. Sure right now it didn't give me anything more than a brief description of an object, and in the case of people, their current HP and AP, but with a high enough level it could tell me a weakness or something like that. Just observing the stuff in my room wasn't enough exp. for Observe to level up, but it did give enough to put it at halfway to the next level. I got ready for the day and headed downstairs for breakfast, sliding down the stair's railing.

"Young man what have I told you about sliding that railing!?" Mom shouts from her position in the kitchen. I have no idea how she manages to figure out when I do that, I mean she's all the way on the other side of the house! Was it some sort of Aura technique or something?...Hmm I might want to make something like that, I'd be super helpful for telling when someone was sneaking up on me.

"That one of these days I'm going to get myself hurt and to stop doing it!" I yell back as I make my way towards the kitchen. Now that I had my Aura unlocked that was very much unlikely to happen, Aura was quite frankly, complete bullshit when it came to what it could do, I mean...super speed, illusions, clones!? From what I've seen of it Aura seemingly has no limits, add to that the fact that I have access to the most broken power ever in the form of my gamer abilities, I'd probably end up breaking whatever limits that Aura **did** have. The fact that I could increase my physical and mental capabilities through such a short time, at least in the beginning, compared to others, and the fact I got stat points to spend whenever I level up, I was total going to hoard those if I got them. I'm cut from my musing by the absolutely heavenly smell of Mom's cooking, seriously I swear I could hear a choir whenever she cooked.

In the time that it took for me to walk into the kitchen I was able to Observe more simple items and the pictures of years past for exp. Nothing really stood out, that was, until I used Observe on the small stone hammer that was hung over the fireplace. The hammer's description was a mess of question marks and garbled words, I couldn't make anything out before an error message appeared and the window closed shortly thereafter. Whenever I went to Observe it again it wouldn't even open up that mess of a description, it just opened up an error window, it also gave me a slight headache whenever I tried again. I made a mental note to try Observe on it again at a later date, after it had gained some levels.

The headache slowly faded as I made my way into the kitchen, Mom was standing in front of the stove frying up some hash browns, she had already made several plates of food for herself, Dad, Sunny, and Rowan. Mine was the only plate missing...wait, never mind, she just set down my plate and sat down in her seat. As I sit down I decide to observe the food that Mom had made. As the food's description popped up, and additional window, which was much smaller, appeared with a faint *ding* which read as thus.

Observe has gained a level, additional information is

now revealed when observing an object.

The window was dismissed with a thought and I turned my attention towards the food's description, I was quite frankly, amazed.

[Superb Breakfast]

This breakfast has been prepared to near perfection, only those with skill comparable to a world famous cook are capable of cooking to such near perfection. This meal is not only very delicious, but is also very healthy.

Effects:

Restores 100 Hp per consumption

Grants the status "Well Fed"

Grants the status "Hearty meal"

This...this was insane, this one item healed for half of my health and also granted two status effects, granted I didn't know what said status effects did, but the fact that their names were positive I could only guess that they were beneficial. I was broken out of my internal monologue by Mom clearing her throat as she gives me a questioning look.

"So cub how are you feeling after last night? I know that having your aura unlocked can be a bit of a strange experience." she asks. Before I answer I ponder on my answer for a moment, I did feel different after having my Aura unlocked, I felt a lot more energetic, as if I could do anything.

"It's...different, I feel so much more energetic than before, but at the same time it's a lot more calm, if that makes any sense." I reply looking at her to judge her reaction. She doesn't seem to think that my answer is strange at least, though there is an odd expression on her face.

"Well the experience is different for everyone, though it seems you and your sister had a similar reaction, she never said anything about having more energy, but she was a lot more calm than she was before, and there is the fact that you have more Aura than normal for someone your age, so that may play into it some." she says shaking her head good naturedly. It was at this moment that Sunny decides to pop into the conversation because of Mom's remark about her being calmer than before.

"Hey! I wasn't that bad before...was I?" she asks looking up from her food.

"Sis...didn't you once run around the house for several hours once when you were younger, just to see if you could?" Rowan jumps in at this point.

"We weren't talking about you or your sister, so let's get back on track before the two of you startup your bickering. So Akairo, now that you've had your Aura unlocked, you're going to be joining Sunny and Rowan in the mornings for training, so after breakfast go put this on." She says tossing me a pair of clothes were a simple pair of grey sweatpants and a white muscle shirt, just because I was curious I used Observe on them.

[Grey Sweatpants]

A simple pair of grey sweatpants, used when working out, or when you're just too lazy to wear actual pants.

Effect:

Increases the effectiveness of physical training by 5%

[White Muscle Shirt]

A shirt that has no sleeves, worn when working out, or by guys that wish to show off their muscles.

Effect:

Increases the effectiveness of physical training by 5%

So, food isn't the only thing that can give bonuses, clothing can give them as well, an interesting thing to think about. I absentmindedly chuck them over my shoulder into the inventory, it takes a few seconds for me to register what I did as my family gapes at the display.

"Son….what was that you just did...with the flash and disappearing clothes?" Mom asks, as she is the first to recover, being a huntress she's probably seen stranger things. I chuckle nervously and rub the back of my neck as I think of how exactly to answer her question. Right so I'm not sure what the best option is here, I could explain it away as my semblance, which in all likelihood it was, or I could try to making up a lie on the spot. I decide on telling them the truth, as Mom could spot one of my lies from a mile away, at least a partial true, revealing that I was a teenager that had been reborn as their son was a bit much even for Remnant.

"Well...it says thats its my power or something, it started after you unlocked my Aura last night, once it was over there was some words over your head, in fact there's words over everyone's head, it has their name, and something like a title, yours is "Deadly Lioness", even I have one, mine is called "The Gamer" though…." I trail off at the end. At my explanation, Dad shoots Mom a questioning look, her reply is to give an equally confused shrug of her shoulders. Mom turns back to me and looks at me intently for a moment, obviously trying to determine the validity of my answer.

"So what exactly does...this "power" do other than seeing words above people's heads, and that thing with the clothes?" Mom asks me.

"Well there are these screens that pop up whenever some things happen, there was one when I woke up this morning, something about sleeping in a bed…" I would continue but Rowan decides to barrel his way into the conversation.

"NO FAIR! Your Semblance turns you into a videogame character! That's so unfair!" He shouts slamming his hands down on the table with enough force to rattle the plates slightly. Mom and Dad's intelligent response to this out burst is a simple "Huh?" At this point Sunny also decides to hop into the conversation with a very good question.

"But I thought it took most people years before their Semblances manifested themselves, I mean I've had mine for about a year and a half, Rowan just discovered his a month ago. Why did Akairo's show up right away?" she asks. I just offer a shrug as an answer, her question was one that I'd like to know as well, Mom and Dad were asking Rowan for clarification on just what he meant, as while Mom did play some games from time to time, she never played Rpg's like Rowan and I.

"So let me get this straight...at the moment Akairo's Semblance is rather weak, but as time goes by, it will grow exponentially stronger, to the point where he could theoretically fight an entire horde of Grimm by himself, is that right?" Mom asks Rowan once he finished his explanation.

"That's about right, one thing though, videogame characters tend to be tougher than most people, and any injury they take tends to be fixed after a short rest or with the help of recovery items, like food." Rowan continues.

"Is that so…? Well in that case, Akairo...your tort...er...training starts in 15 minutes, I want to see what your baseline is, then we'll work out a regimen after that." Mom orders in her commanding voice. Knowing that there was no point in trying to talk Mom out of something once she had her heart set on it, I hurry up and eat my breakfast, equipping the workout clothes from my inventory, I paused to look at the two status effects that Mom's cooking had given me.

[Well Fed]

You've eaten your fill of food, so you have

plenty of energy, until you get hungry again that is.

Effect:

Doubles the speed of AP regeneration.

[Hearty Meal]

You've eaten a meal that is full of nutrients essential to growth

Effects:

Promotes growth

Improves the speed at which you gain Vitality by 10%

That 'Hearty Meal" status effect was probably going to be my ticket to getting rid of the "Child's Body" effect as fast as possible, walking out into the backyard a few minutes before Mom's 15 minute had set up a couple training dummy's off to one side, and it looked like she had set up some sort of sparring ring in the middle of the yard. I jump as Mom comes from seemingly nowhere and claps a hand down on my shoulder.

"So cub, how are you feeling about your first day of training?" She asks in a tone that somehow feels both comforting and that sends a chill down my spine. That feeling wasn't helped at all by the quest notification that showed up when Mom put her hand on my shoulder.

[Mom's Tort...er...Training]

Objective:

Survive

Bonus Objective:

Hold out for 30 seconds.

Rewards:

20 exp.

Hand-to-Hand skill

Physical Endurance skill

Further training

Bonus Rewards:

30 exp.

5 Levels in Hand-to-Hand

Hand wraps

Failure:

No further training

Unable to become a Huntsman

Accept?

Y/N

"...A bit apprehensive to be honest Mom." I answer, while simultaneously accepting the quest. It may have been concerning that the bonus objective was to last 30 seconds, but the rewards that it gave were going to be worth it. Mom's smile seems to gain a predatory quality at my answer and my hand moving to accept the quest.

"Oh…? And why is that…? Something to do with that power of your's perhaps?" she questions. That smile of her's was rather unnerving, my mind faintly registered the *ping* sound of another screen appearing but I pushed it aside for the moment, not daring to look away.

"Ahaha… it may have just given me a quest just now…" I say with a nervous laugh and rubbing the back of my neck.

"Judging by the way you're acting it probably knows what's coming, why don't you go ahead and get in the ring, I'll be there in just a second." She says as she turns back to head inside. I let out a sigh of relief as she enters the house, Mom was scary when she was like that, pushing my thoughts aside I instead focus on the screen that appeared during our conversation, it's contents caused my to break out in a nervous sweat.

Through a unique action, a new skill has been created.

The skill [Detect Bloodlust] has been created

[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level

[Detect Bloodlust]: Level 2

" _Is it just me or does anyone else feel like they're 5 feet away from the grave?"_

Through experiencing high levels of bloodlust, you've become sensitive to its presence.

You can now sense bloodlust in a small area around you.

Radius: 5 meters

[Exp]: 25/150

That...that was **bloodlust**!? Okay, so Mom's now officially terrifies me, I shake the thoughts away and to as she told me and enter the ring. Mom comes back outside after a minute, but she's not the only one, Dad, Rowan, and Sunny all come outside carrying folding chairs and buckets of popcorn. Mom jumps up into the ring with a practiced ease, landing with barely a sound as her heavy boots impact the covered wood.

"Well let's get started...try to last longer than your brother and sister, otherwise this will have been rather boring" she says cracking her knuckles. I'm just about to ask a question when a timer appears in the corner of my vision, at the same time Mom lets loose with a wave of bloodlust. The bloodlust makes me take a step back from the sheer pressure of it, and it's that step backwards that signals Mom's offense. I blink and suddenly she's right there, I dive roll to dodge the flying clothesline that was Mom's opening attack. I land in a crouch facing towards where I came from, and see her foot land on the mat, once more she's a blur of movement as I turn and cross my arms in an attempt to block the straight jab towards my midsection.

The punch caused my arms to go numb, and the force threw me backwards a good few feet. I take a glance at the timer as I'm in the air, half the time is gone but I'm not sure if I'll be able to make it that long. Her follow up superman punch aimed at my face is barely dodged as i twist my body to the right, then I saw perhaps the one opportunity to land on her. Her punch had both of her feet leave the ground, meaning her insane speed couldn't be used for the moment. I bring up my right leg to try to plant my knee in her stomach as her own momentum carried her into it. The hit doesn't phase her at all, as she lands back on the ground and retaliates with a kick to my ribs.

Unfortunately my own hit had left me defenseless so there was no way to dodge or block it. The kick slammed into my ribs hard enough that I swear I heard a couple crack, it also had the side benefit of throwing me end over end towards the edge of the mat. The world swam in and out of focus after that, and the black spots slowly encroaching on my vision told me that I was on the verge of passing out. Breathing was a struggle, but I forced myself to my feet and looked at Mom, whose leg was still in the position of kicking me. The last thing I saw before the creeping darkness on the edges of my vision engulfed my sight was the timer slowly counting down to Zero.

I came to on the couch with several screens in front of me, deciding to see what all I had gained throughout the one-sided massacre that was the fight, I started with the oldest screens first. The first several were just notifications about [Detec Bloodlust]'s level going up though there were a couple about the hits I had taken and the respective damage they had caused. If I did my math right, taking that punch to my arms and that kick to the ribs had put me within 15 Hp of Zero, After that terrifying thought I came upon the notification about sleeping on a couch, which only provided half the HP and AP restoration that sleeping on my bed did. I tried to sit up but let out a groan of pain as soreness in my chest and arms made itself known.

"Hey Mom! Akairo's awake! Darn, now I owe Rowan 20 Lien, I was sure that you'd be out for another couple hours at least…" Sunny says walking up to the side of the couch.

"Hey I'm the one that knows what Rpg characters are capable of, don't blame me for knowing pretty well how long his recovery time is." Rowan says also walking up to the couch.

"Stop you two, before you start bickering again..." Mom says as she gets between the both of them preventing any further retorts from either of them.

"You know cub...I'm impressed, your brother and sister only lasted ten seconds each, and not only that you actually managed to land a hit on me, granted it didn't even hurt but that's better than can be said for these two." she says jerking a thumb behind her at Rowan and Sunny.

"How long was I out for anyways? Sunny mentioned I was out for a couple of hours" I ask, my voice a little scratchy and dry.

"You've been out for three and a half hours, taking two hits was also rather impressive, I would have figured the pain from the broken arms would have made you pass out sooner." she comments casually.

"Broken arms? Is that why my arms went numb after blocking that first hit?" I say sarcastically. Rowan and Sunny roll their eyes at the sarcasm but Mom continues on as if she didn't even hear me.

"Regardless of the broken arms and the three broken ribs, the fact that you're able to move at all tells me that you heal pretty fast. Anyways I've left you some handwraps in your room, consider them a reward for lasting as long as you did." with this she turns around and leaves the room. It seems the quest takes this as a sign that it's been completed as it chooses that moment to show the completion screen.

[Mom's Tort...er...Training]

Objective:

Survive

[Completed]

Bonus Objective:

Hold out for 30 seconds.

[Completed]

Hidden Objective:

Land a hit on your mother

[Completed]

Rewards:

20 exp.

Hand-to-Hand skill

Physical Endurance skill

Further training

Bonus Rewards:

30 exp.

5 Levels in Hand-to-Hand

Hand wraps

Hidden Rewards:

50 exp.

Unlocks the Quest [Apprentice of the Deadly Lioness]

Wait, Hidden objective? That was somewhat surprising, I honestly wasn't expecting to have a hidden objective, I just wanted to land a hit on Mom. Closing out that screen caused the skill descriptions for Hand-to-Hand and Physical Endurance, and two its place.

[Hand-to-Hand Combat] Level 5

" _Why do you keep trying to teach me how to throw a punch? I've been in plenty of fights!"_

This skill measures how proficient you are at

fighting with only your fists as your weapons.

Effect:

Passively increases the speed and damage of unarmed attacks by 5%

[Exp]: 0/300

[Physical Endurance] Level 3

" _Ow! Why do you keep hitting me?" "Consider it pain tolerance training."_

This skill improves the amount of punishment

your body can take before it gives out on you

Effect:

Passively decreases the damage taken by physical attacks by 3%

Closing both skill windows, I opened up the quest I had received from that hidden objective.

[Apprentice of the Deadly Lioness]

Objective:

?

Rewards:

?

Failure:

Death

Accept?

Y/N

I could only assume that the objectives and rewards would reveal themselves in time, the fact that failure to complete the quest was death, well it implied that it was important I don't fail. Accepting the quest I went about the rest of the day, once lunch had been eaten what lingering pain I had faded, after that Mom forced me back outside to start with the physical training. The next three years fell into a similar routine, wake up, eat breakfast, sparring with Mom, recovering from the beatdown I received, eat lunch, back to training, enjoy dinner with my family, go to sleep. That routine stopped the day some of Mom and Dad's old friends came knocking on our front door.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hello everyone! Flame's Wrath here! First of all I'd again like to apologize for this chapter taking so long, this chapter decided it wanted to be trouble, combine that with work and starting college several weeks ago, this chapter was slow going. Anyways here is the fourth chapter of When Death Owes a Favor, enjoy!**

 **P.S. this story is still currently unbeta-ed, if you are interested please send me a PM.**

I was the one who answered the door when Mom and Dad's 'old friends' showed up that fateful morning. It was a pair of faunus, a man and a woman, the man was some sort of canine faunus, judging by the tail swishing to and fro behind him, the woman was probably an article fox faunus, based on the snow white fox ears sitting on top of her head. Their attire was oddly familiar, but for the life of me I couldn't remember where I recognized it from.

"Ah...hello there young one…are your parents home? We need to talk to them, it's rather urgent." The man asks, looking around rather wearily. Was he looking around for someone following them? Whatever the reason for his constant scanning of the neighboring houses and the street behind them, his behavior was still highly suspicious and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Mom! Dad! There's some people at the door wanting to talk to you!" I shout over my shoulder into the house, quickly turning back around to continue looking at the pair of them. Deciding I needed a bit more information on the two of them I shot off a pair of Observes on them. Over the past three years I had managed to get Observe up to level 7, once it hit level 5 if the target was alive, it started to show some of their surface emotions, it couldn't tell me everything a person was feeling but I could glean what they were feeling most strongly in that moment.

[Name]: Drayden Lupus

[Title]: Wolf of the Wastes

Level: 13

Age: 38

HP: 2970/2970

AP: 2000/2000

Str: 30 + 3 = 33

Dex: 35 + 3.5 = 38.5

Vit: 27 + 2.7 = 29.7

Int: 25

Wis: 20

Cha: 15

Luck: 5

Drayden Lupus is a member of the White Fang organization, he joined twenty years ago when the cause was still peaceful, he dislikes the path it is currently going down and is contemplating quitting altogether. Is currently here to warn old friends Kira and Leon of a situation that may put them in harm's way.

Feeling: Nostalgic, Worried.

[Name]: Lille Lupus

[Title]: Fox in the Sands

Level: 10

HP: 2200/2200

AP: 2500/2500

Age: 35

HP: 2200/2200

AP: 2500/2500

Str: 20 + 2 = 22

Dex: 25 + 2.5 = 27.5

Vit: 20 + 2 =22

Int: 30

Wis: 25

Cha: 20

Luck: 10

Lille Lupus is a member of the White Fang organization, she joined because she thought the goals were just. She met her husband Drayden during one of the meetings. She currently dislikes the path that the group is going and is contemplating leaving. Is currently here to warn old friends Kira and Leon of a situation that may put them in harm's way.

Feeling: Hopeful, Worried.

So that's where I recognized the attire from, the two were wearing the uniform that the White Fang grunts wore, minus the Grimm masks of course. The fact that the two were White Fang members, and yet somehow knew Mom and Dad brought a series of questions that I was not sure I wanted the answer too.

"Sorry about not being the one to answer the door, I was busy finishing up a project…" Dad freezes as he walks into view of the two at the door. Something flashed in his eyes at the sight of the two, I wasn't sure if it was shock or recognition, maybe a bit of both.

"Quickly both of you come inside, Akairo go grab your mother and tell her we need her in the living room." he says ushering the two inside and looking around outside before closing the door. Seeing that this is something serious if it's got Dad worried I quickly got to get Mom, who was walking out of the kitchen while cleaning her hands on a towel, seems she had been in the middle of cooking something.

"Mom the couple at the door were looking to talk to you and Dad, he practically pulled them into the house, and he told me to come get you. He said they'll be in the living room, Dad looked really serious for some reason." I tell her.

"Stay here, me and your Dad will come get you if something comes up okay?" she says suddenly looking very serious herself. She then heads into the living room and closes and locks the door leading into the room. Okay, this situation was really starting to make me nervous, firstly, Dad was worried, that almost never happened, secondly, Mom locked the door behind her, for the most part whenever she told me and Rowan to do something she trusted us to do it, the fact that she doesn't trust me in this situation doesn't bode well. In an attempt to kill time I decided to run through everything I had learned about the system over the past three years. The first thing I had discovered about my power was something called the Mentor system, it had popped up after a few sessions of 'training' with Mom.

The Mentor system was rather simple, when being trained by someone for a specific skill, like Mom for Hand-to-Hand, it increased the speed at which the skill leveled up. The second feature I had discovered was the ability to make parties, that one was more of an accidental discovery. It involved a party that some relatives were throwing, and a question that the system determined was close enough to count as an invitation. The Party system gave the people in it a lesser version of my semblance, they could learn skills, level up, and distribute stat points, but they couldn't recover after sleeping, or access an inventory like I could. Sunny, Rowan and I abused the hell out of the mentor and party systems, at least, we did until Sunny started at Haven last year. Since then she hasn't really come around much, which is to be expected seeing as Haven is a boarding school.

I was broken from my reminiscing by a shout of "What!" coming from inside the living room. Suddenly the door is thrown open and Mom marches out with a grave expression on her normally unconcerned face.

"Akairo, go get your brother and tell him to start packing his things, you need to do the same." She says grabbing my shoulders as she kneels to look me in the eyes. My semblance decides to make itself known at this point, a quest notification popping up as soon as she's done speaking.

[Key Quest!]

[The Great Escape]

The White Fang is coming after your family for some reason, your Mom is telling you to pack your things and grab your brother.

[Objectives]

Grab your brother and tell him to pack his things

Pack your own things

Make it out of Vacuo alive

[Bonus Objective]

Escape from Vacuo without encountering any of your pursuers

[Rewards]

2,000 Exp.

1 piece of the "Soul-Bound" equipment set.

[Bonus Rewards]

500 Exp.

"Daytime Ninja" Title.

[Failure]

Serious bodily harm and/or Death of your family.

Death.

[Accept?]

[Y]

Holy hell was that a lot of Exp, in fact it was the most Exp. I had seen from the system so far. The penalties for failure were concerning however,the only time I had seen Death as a result of failure was the first time Mom and I had a training session. She was a fully trained Huntress and she didn't really know the meaning of restraint, so Death as a result of that "test" was a realistic possibility. So if the system was throwing that and the death of my family as a consequence...told me that we were in some pretty deep shit. It wasn't like I could just decline either, there was the whole "Key Quest" thing and the fact that the button to decline wasn't there made that impossible.

I do the only thing I can and accept the quest, then follow Mom's instructions and head upstairs to get Rowan, who I happen to run into in the hallway.

"Akairo! What's going on? Why was Mom shouting?" he asks confused as to what's going on. To be honest I'm currently asking myself those same questions, but right now it seems we don't have the luxury of getting them.

"I don't know the answer to either of those questions, but a couple of White Fang members showed up at the door, Mom and Dad talked to them and now Mom wants us to pack up our things." I reply.

"How do you know they were…? Nevermind that was a stupid question, you used observe on them. Look, go get your things, once you get done come back and help me." He says with a concerned waver in his voice. He then turns back into his room and the sounds of frantic packing is heard shortly from within. I rush into my own room just down the hall, opening up and expanding the inventory screen as I start throwing everything important into it. With the help of my frankly rather broken inventory system, grabbing everything important, everything is tucked safely away in my inventory in a matter of minutes.I exit my room to see Rowan struggling with a stack of five medium size boxes he's holding.

"Do you think your inventory will be big enough to hold all of this stuff in addition to yours?" He asks, setting the boxes down with a *thump* and a sigh.

"Yeah I'm sure, I've been throwing stuff I've collected in there for the past three years, it hasn't run out of space yet, hell I'm not sure it can run out of space." I answer, grabbing the top box and moving it into the inventory. Rowan and I throw in the other boxes and head back downstairs to see if Mom and Dad were ready yet. Mom was wearing her weapons, a pair of Katar that, instead of a single triangular blade, had three blades upon each, resembling claws. Her name for them was Wind Cutters, typically she didn't put the things on unless she was going on a mission, so the fact that she was wearing them was concerning. Dad was wearing a massive pack that wouldn't have looked out of place for someone about to go hiking, he also had a pair of his forge hammers on a belt at his waist. When Mom sees us she grabs the stone hammer that still gave me headaches whenever I tried to observe it, and walked over to us.

"There isn't enough time to explain everything, so I'll give you the short version. Some really bad people are looking for this…." at this she lifts the hammer, indicating that's what she was referring to, "...and they can't be allowed to have it in their possession, so we need to leave Vacuo because they know we are the ones who have it." she says. She then hands me the hammer before she continues speaking.

"I want you to put this in your inventory, right now that's the safest place for it, since you're the only one that can access it. Now we're going to be heading for the airport, we'll be getting on an airship called the Wanderlust, I've already arranged for our passage so we just need to get there. I don't think they'll try anything in broad daylight, but stay close just in case, Okay?" She explains, handing me the hammer. Touching it caused a strange feeling to come over me, it caused all the hairs on my arm to stand on end and it raised goosebumps all over my body. The feeling wasn't bad, it just felt rather odd, it pulsed through my body in time to my heartbeat, each beat was accompanied with a sense of power.

Resolving to investigate the strange reaction, I reluctantly place the hammer within my inventory for safety. Looking at the others it doesn't seem like anyone saw or felt anything strange when I had the hammer in my hand, and Mom didn't look like anything was different when she had the hammer either. We shuffled out of the house, which was locked behind us by Mom, it probably wouldn't do much good if the White Fang were really that eager to find that strange hammer. Mom and Dad ushered me and Rowan into the car, both of whom were very wary and paranoid at this point. The atmosphere inside the car was very tense on the way there, none of us spoke, each lost in our worries and thoughts.

Traffic on the way was rather light, almost non-existent in fact, I think I only saw one car the entire trip, a black cargo truck, basically a semi truck but it had a bed and tailgate like a normal truck. That right there should have tipped me off that something was wrong, Vacuo's streets were never that empty, unfortunately I didn't pick up that we were in deep shit until we got to the airport. The parking lot was empty, yet another flag that something was horribly off about the whole situation, one that I actually picked up on this time. Stopping dead in my tracks I start listening for anything out of the ordinary, the problem was, there wasn't anything to hear.

"Akairo what are you doing, we need to get to that airship before the White Fang find us!" Rowan says in a harsh tone.

"That isn't going to work, we're already in deep shit, tell me...when was the last time you've seen the airport parking lot empty or heard Vacuo silent?" I reply shaking my head. This causes the others to stop in their tracks as the implications of this fact run through their minds. Mom and Dad immediately force Rowan and I between them as they both ready their weapons and start scanning the area.

"Ahahaha! My my… you're a perceptive one aren't you? I suppose I should introduce myself then." a voice that sent shivers down my spine called out. All of our heads turn as one towards where the voice originated, the roof of the airport, a good three stories up. The speaker was male, he wore a long brown coat that he left open, exposing part of his chest that had two scars in the shape of an X just below his neck. This was someone I recognized, and someone I had hoped never to run into, much less at the fairly young age of thirteen.

"What an...interesting group you all are. A man who has no idea how to keep his children safe, a retired Huntress who would do anything to keep her cubs safe, even die for them if need be. A young man with dreams of glory and heroism, and a boy with eyes too old for his face. Ahahaha! Oh yes! I shall have to thank my Goddess for giving me this assignment when I get finished here." the man, whom I knew as Tyrian Callows, servant of Salem, said before breaking out into maniacal laughter. The laughter didn't last very long as one moment he goes from laughing to completely serious in the next second.

"Now then...you all have something I'm looking for, if you hand it over right now i just might be inclined to spare you, however if you choose to try to keep it from me...well that just means I get to have fun." he says, letting out an absolutely insane amount of bloodlust. The amount was strong enough to send both myself and Rowan to our hands and knees from the sheer weight of it. Mom and Dad fared better than us, Dad being forced to take a knee before standing back up, Mom merely had sweat rolling down her face. It was moments like this I was thankful for [Gamer's Mind], as the sheer "mind-numbing terror" was dialed back to "very afraid".

"We're going to die...we're going to die...he's going to kill us all… we're going to die…" Rowan mutters repeatedly from his place on the ground a few feet away. Even though I wasn't panicking like him, I couldn't force myself to my feet, the air surrounding us felt heavy and my limbs felt like jelly. I couldn't stand, but I could manage to crawl, forcing my limbs to move I slowly made my way over to Rowan.

"Oi! Get ahold of yourself bro! It's an older sibling's job to look after their younger sibling, how are you supposed to be doing that if you're over here being afraid?" I ask. It doesn't seem to do all that much but at least he's stopped freaking out at the situation we're in. I attempt to stand since my limbs no longer feel like they're made of jelly, I manage it for a moment, before my left knee gives out under the weight and I start falling forward. I don't fall for long though, a few seconds maybe, before I'm steadied by a pair of arms.

"Whoa there… you just said all that and you can barely stand… a bit hypocritical there don't you think bro?" Rowan asks as he supports me.

"Heh, that's like the pot calling the kettle black, I'm fairly certain it was you who was freaking out just a moment ago." I answer snarkily. Now that I'm not concerned with looking at the ground are breaking Rowan out of his terror, I can see that Mom, Dad, and Tyrian are all fighting.

"We should probably stay out of that, we'd just be a distraction that they don't need right now, we should be focusing on finding a way out of...whatever that guy did to this place…." he looks around for a moment before sighing and looks at me. "...I don't suppose you've got any ideas? Because I've got nothing." He asks.

"I've got one...don't know if it'll work...and will probably take a bit...but I've got one" I answer. Right so how did they get out of a protected space in the manhwa again? Didn't you just have to release a bunch of power towards the sky and focus on getting out? Yeah that sounded about right, but how do I go about doing that? I mean Aura doesn't work anything like magic, it doesn't really interact with the rest of the world like magic does, it's an internal force, but I don't really have any other options so I might as well try. It also wasn't like I didn't have any idea of where to begin trying either.

Ever since Mom unlocked my Aura three years ago, there had been a faint sensation of warmth coming from my chest. Of course every time I tried to feel it purposefully it just slipped away from me, but with us being in such a bad situation I might as well give it another go, but I decided to go about it differently this time since each attempt before this didn't work out. Before I had tried to grab ahold of that warmth and make it do something, this time I wasn't going to try and grab it, I was going to try to guide it where I wanted it to go. I closed my eyes and drew an imaginary path from the warmth in my chest to the palm of my right hand, which was facing skyward. At first I though it hadn't worked, but after a moment the feeling of warmth spread from my chest to my shoulder, and then up my arm, finally stopping at the palm of my hand.

Now that I had Aura in the right spot, I imagine escaping from this place, I imagine Vacuo, the constant sounds of cars and people talking, and then I push the Aura out of my hand and into the air. I open my eyes and am greeted by a sound that bears a resemblance to when glass or ice begins to crack. Looking up at the sky I can see the cracks that are beginning to spread throughout the false world around us. I'm not the only one who hears and sees the barrier begin to break either, Mom glances towards the sound and then turns her attention back to Tyrian, who is staring at the spreading cracks in shock.

"What! That's not supposed to be happening! Watts assured me this was inescapable!"He yells upon seeing the cracks. He doesn't get to contemplate what happened for very long before he gets nailed in the face with one of Dad's throwing hammers. The blow wasn't very impressive or damaging, and for someone like Tyrian who was utterly insane, it would only serve to piss them off even more, but he was apparently low on Aura because after it hit a purple glow appeared around him and then shattered. Mom wasn't one to waste an opportunity when it presented itself and immediately rushed in to claw at his chest, though it seemed that she wasn't in any better shape, judging by the numerous cuts and tears in her clothing. Her charging in combined with his shock at the illusion barrier falling apart put him on the backfoot, but he wasn't an agent working for Salem for no reason, even surprised he was dangerous as hell, this was proven when he unwrapped his tail from around his waist and prepared to stab her with it. Thankfully, skilled as he was, he didn't have enough time to get his tail in a position to impale her with it, he only managed to score a decent cut on her side, though judging by the purple eyes he'd managed to coat it in his venom.

"Gah! You bitch! You and yours have really pissed me off! First one of your brats somehow manages to break something Watts told was impossible to break, and then you go and cut me! And to top it all off I the stupid detector Watts built for that stupid hammer hasn't done a damn thing! Rest assured, the next time we meet, they won't even have enough pieces of you to fill a shoebox!" He rants, hand on the bleeding slash to the chest Mom gave him. He turns and runs away with his tail between his legs, literally I might add, the illusion barrier finally shattering completely shortly thereafter. As soon as the barrier was gone, sound and life returned to the world around us, people going about their normal lives. I go to take a step forward but fall to the ground as a wave of nausea and dizziness sweeps over me.

"Akairo! What happened are you okay!?" Dad asks rushing over to myself and Rowan, concern evident on his face. Mom hobbles over shortly thereafter, holding the cut on her side and trying to keep weight off of her left leg.

" I'm okay, breaking that barrier must have taken more out of me than I thought, you should be more worried about Mom, that guy got you with his tail, it was probably covered in venom if it acts anything like a real scorpion's." I say waving him off as I try to stand.

"Dad, do you know where the airship we're supposed to get on is?" Rowan asks him. Dad nods his head in the affirmative and Rowan nods his head as well. "Alright then, I'll grab Akairo and you can carry Mom, we'll head there as fast as we can, there's no telling if that guys has backup on the way and I'd rather not find out, is that okay with you?" he asks. Dad answers with a quick "yes" before grabbing Mom in a bridal carry, Rowan was about to do the same before I told him if he tried I would slap him. He ended up settling for giving me a piggyback and we started heading for the bay where The Wanderlust was docked.

Our travel through the airport was calm, though a few people did look at us oddly, those that did stare were probably not Vacuo natives, as it wasn't too odd to see something like us here in Vacuo. We managed to make it to the dock without any further trouble and me and Rowan got our first look at the airship we were to be riding. While it wasn't brand new, in fact it was rather old, that didn't detract from the fact that it was rather impressive, it was quite a bit more heavily armed than most civilian ships, though not to the point of say, an Atlas military ship. It was also armored a fair bit more than every other ship I had seen, again with the exception of Atlesian ships. Dad carried Mom up to a door located on the side of the ship, when she got within reaching distance she knocked in a specific pattern.

"Finally it about time what took you all so long….? What the hell happened to you!?" a man asks answering the door. He was dressed like a Vacuan version of Indiana Jones, leather jacket covered in pouches, a bandolier running across his chest, and a fedora to complete the look.

"We were ambushed in the parking lot, man who attacked us did something that separated where we were from the real world. Akairo over there did something that got rid of it and the guy got me with his tail when I went to cut open his chest." Mom says.

"Right, knowing you that's not all that happened… but that can wait, right now you should get inside and let the Doc take a look at that wound." The man says. He then turns to look at Rowan and myself with...fondness?

"Man it's been awhile since I've seen you two, a couple weeks after Akairo here was born I think. I'm not sure if either of you remember me but I'm your Uncle, Lynx." He says, and when he speaks I finally notice the rather large canine teeth he is sporting.

"Wait what? I didn't even know we had an uncle, did you?" Rowan says turning to look at me. I shrug my shoulders in response, Mom and Dad never mentioned having siblings so I always assumed they were only children. Lynx looks slightly offended at our complete lack of knowledge as to his existence.

"Really Sis? You never even told them I existed? That hurts sis, that hurts right here." He says laying a hand over where his heart is. Mom just scoffs and rolls her eyes before she replies in a rather dry monotone.

"Well it totally didn't have to do with the fact that you were always off galavanting and never even came to visit, that's totally not the reason why they didn't know you existed." she says. Lynx looks like he's going to say something in response to that before he stops and thinks, after a moment he drops his head and mutters an apology.

"So what exactly happened anyway? When you called earlier you said you needed to leave Vacuo, and then just a moment ago you said you'd been ambushed, what kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into?" He asks.

"It's not something I did, the man that attacked us was after the hammer, and apparently he has some friends in the White Fang because they were sent out to look for it too." Mom answers. Lynx looks panicked at the mention of someone being after the hammer, and it just raises more questions in my mind about this damn thing, just what is it that makes it so damn important anyways?

"It's safe right? They didn't manage to take it right...tell me they didn't manage to take it." he says hurriedly.

" Yes it's safe, right now it in a place that only one person I know can get it, and that's Akairo." She says waving him off. To demonstrate what she means I take a baseball bat out of my Inventory and let him gawk at it for a moment before I put it back. He shakes his head to clear his mind and then turns back to look at Mom.

" So where exactly do you want to go? I kind of nee to give the crew directions before we can go anywhere." He asks.

" Can you take us to Patch? I need to let the scarecrow know that someone knows about the hammer, that and I think I'll apply at Signal, teaching these two and their sister was rather fun." She says. With that he heads off to tell his crew where they were headed, Dad also took this as the signal to take Mom to this "Doc" person. As Rowan and I follow after them my semblance decides that I had completed the quest it gave me, judging by the rather large screen that popped up anyways.

[Key Quest!]

[The Great Escape]

[Objectives]

Grab your brother and tell him to pack his things

Pack your own things

Make it out of Vacuo alive

[Completed]

Bonus Objective:

Escape from Vacuo without encountering any of your pursuers

[Failed]

Hidden Objective:

Encounter a Illusion Barrier and Shatter it with your Aura

[Completed]

[Rewards]

2,400 Exp.

"Soul-Bound Necklace"

Skill: [ID Create]

Skill:[ID Escape]

[You Have Gained A Level]

[You Have Gained A Level]

[You Have Gained A Level]

Hot damn that was a lot of Exp., I had gained more Exp. from this one quest than I had in the past three and a half years. The necklace formed in mid-air and hovered there until I grabbed it, it was round in shape, with a lion's head emblem pressed into it. I shot off an Observe on it in order to get an idea of what it was for, because after all it was a part of something called a 'Soul-Bound' equipment set.

[Soul-Bound Necklace]

Part of the Soul-Bound Equipment Set

-Binds to the user's soul upon equipment

-Provides a 20% passive boost to Aura capacity

-Provides a set bonus when worn with all other Soul-Bound Items

That, bit about it binding to my soul was slightly concerning, but given the fact that in lots of MMO's there was equipment that bind on pickup, I wasn't too worried it would try to kill me. Deciding 'what the hell?' I throw the necklace on over my shirt and shiver at the strange sensation that must be it binding to me. Shaking off the feeling I decide to take a look at my stats, because even though stat points were akin to an instant powerup, the encounter with Tyrian showed me that I wasn't even close to the amount of strength I would need to stop Salem from destroying Beacon. I open up the Status menu and take a look at what had changed over the past three and a half years.

[Name]: Akairo Raion

[Title]: The Gamer

Level: 6

Exp.: 300/1200

HP: 1650/1650

AP: 1700/1700

Str: 15 + 1.5 = 16.5

Dex:17 + 1.7 = 18.7

Vit:15 + 1.5 = 16.5

Int:14 + 5 = 19

Wis:12 + 5 = 17

Cha: 5

Luck: 7

Stat Points: 25

Mom's training from hell had increased each of my physical stats by ten over the past three years. That's not to say my intelligence or wisdom hadn't improved either, they were just slower to gain points because they weren't something Mom had emphasized in her training. The only two I had trouble with increasing were Charisma and Luck, I wasn't the most social of people in my last life so I really had no idea on how to improve that, and Luck was just what it said, I suppose I could try predicting the probability of a coin flip, but that just seemed overly tedious I wasn't even sure if that would work. Regardless of how to raise my luck, I needed to decide how many stat points I should spend, and how to distribute them. I should probably avoid spending all of them, in case I need them at a later date, and spending them to increase my physical stats seemed like a waste since Mom's training was good enough for those at the moment, so that left my mental stats and Luck as the choices for using stat points.

Putting a couple of points in Luck seemed like a reasonable investment, I'd be starting combat school in a few months, and since we were heading for Patch and Mom is thinking about applying to teach at Signal, chances are I'd be building my own weapon. Once that happened I would start abusing the hell out of those two new skills of mine, and with higher luck I'd be getting better drops from the mobs the ID's probably further planning is cut off as a system window pops up.

[Your sound reasoning has increased you Wis. by 1]

Okay, that wasn't unwelcome but it did make me focus back on the matter of my stat points. After a few minutes of further deliberation I decided to put five points into Charisma, three into Luck, and two into Wisdom, bringing my final stats up to this.

[Name]: Akairo Raion

[Title]: The Gamer

Level: 6

Exp.: 300/1200

HP: 1650/1650

AP: 2000/2000

Str: 15 + 1.5 = 16.5

Dex:17 + 1.7 = 18.7

Vit:15 + 1.5 = 16.5

Int:14 + 5 = 19

Wis:15 + 5 = 20

Cha: 10

Luck: 10

Stat Points: 15

Nodding my head at the screen, I close it and begin to settle in for the long trip to Patch.


	5. Chapter Five(Aka Flame isn't Dead)

**A/N: *Comes out in full Riot gear for protection from torches and pitchforks of angry Fans* First of all I am so _so_ sorry for this chapter taking so long, Life seems to have conspired against me as several things Irl have kept me busy, add into that this chapter was cursed _hard_ with the dreaded Writer's Block. I do have another announcement to make that I put at the end of the chapter so you all can just enjoy this chapter. So without further adieu, Here is Chapter 5 of When Death Owes a Favor.**

Surprisingly the trip to Patch wasn't as long as I thought it was going to take, seeing all the guns and armor on the ship, I probably shouldn't have been surprised that the engines were upgraded. Uncle Lynx stopped in from time to time to check on us, and boy was that something I was going to have to get used to. Going from thinking my parents were only children for the past thirteen and a half years to suddenly having an uncle who was basically Indiana Jones was an, interesting experience. Anyways the ship's doctor, who everybody called Doc, cleaned up all the minor cuts and bruises Mom had gotten during the fight, then cleaned out and stitched up the big gash in her side, but not before giving her some anti-venom he kept in stock. Apparently Uncle Lynx got himself in trouble a lot and from what I could catch of his muttering, had started keeping scorpion anti-venom on the ship after something he called "The Incident".

Disregarding that, he then took a look at the rest of us, Dad had some bruised ribs from being thrown into the car at some point, both Rowan and I had some small cuts on our palms and our knees from being forced to the ground because of Tyrian's bloodlust. Those he just cleaned up and let our Aura take care of the rest, that's when Mom tells us that she's decided to up our training with a smile. It wasn't a nice smile either, oh no, it was a smile that promised pain in our future, seeing it both Rowan and I let out simultaneous pained groans. Mom's training was already rather intense, upping it would make it start treading the line between 'hellish' and 'straight up torture.' I sigh in resignation, this would help me get stronger, it just wouldn't be fun, but then hadn't I just had a mental rant to myself a few hours ago?

After that I wandered around the ship for a while, stopping in at the mess hall to grab something to eat before heading back to exploring. Eventually I found this secluded corner down in the cargo bay, hidden away behind a couple of crates, where I'd been for the past several hours writing down my future plans. Mom and Dad knew where I was of course, the party system had a nifty feature that allowed everyone in a party to know where the others were, it was rather helpful for keeping track of everyone.The first thing I was planning on doing when we got to Patch was figure out exactly how much time I'd have until the attack on Beacon. Earlier Mom had mentioned letting a 'Scarecrow' know about Salem and her minions looking for the hammer, and judging by what I knew of this world, she was probably talking about Qrow.

Since it was summer, it wasn't likely that Qrow was actually on the island, since he didn't have to teach at Signal during the summer, he was probably off doing some top secret missions for Ozpin or his little group. Then again maybe not, I had no way of knowing what he did in his spare time, but anyways, on to my next item on 'The List Of Very Important Things To Do.' The next item on the list was rather simple, get stronger, over time I had figured out that I could see people's levels at the very least, up to twenty levels above me. This information was gathered because Rowan, who was someone who had completed Vacuo's version of Signal, called Shadow, as of earlier today was level twenty three. So the fact that I couldn't see Mom or Tyrian's levels was rather disturbing, it just showcased how much of a power difference between me and the bad guys really was.

I mean sure, Tyrian was a really strong bad guy, being someone who could go toe-to-toe with Qrow Branwen, but hell! He wasn't even the one in charge, and who knows, he may not even be the strongest of Salem's underlings! Actually now that I think about it, may not be able to see Mom's level or stats, but I was able to see her HP and AP values and a short description. If that was the case then how come I couldn't see anything of Tyrian's except his Title, did the information Observe gave me depend on something other than it's skill level? If so, then what was the other factor, the only thing I could think of was that I had learned more about Mom over the years than I knew about Tyrian. Was that how it worked then, the more I knew about an object or person the more I got from an Observe? Evidently so, as the alert screen for my wisdom going up by one told me. It was also joined by a pair of screens telling me that Observe's level had gone up twice.

[Due to logical reasoning and discovering a factor that

influences the skill [Observe] your Wisdom has increased by 1]

[Due to figuring out an aspect of the skill [Observe] its' level has risen by one]

[Due to figuring out an aspect of the skill [Observe] its' level has risen by one]

Any further thought into the matter was stopped in its tracks as the room gave a small lurch and the constant hum of the engines began to decrease in volume, eventually cutting out altogether. Shortly thereafter the cargo ramp drops open and the crew that were milling about begin to move around, getting ready to offload whatever it was they were carrying. Seeing as we've landed, my family would probably be disembarking soon enough and I might as well wait for them somewhere easily visible. I get up from my position seated behind a crate and begin making my way down the veritable mountain of crates to the floor. A few of the crew members look surprised at my appearance, they either hadn't noticed my climb up there or had just forgotten I was there.

It took a minute took get down the crates that were less crates and more cube shaped cargo containers that were a good ten feet tall, the only reason I made it up them in the first place was because of my Aura. I took the quick route down, instead of climbing down, I just jumped down my Aura absorbing and dispersing the force of the fall. The crew members just shake their heads at my antics, apparently used to such stunts, which made me wonder just what exactly these guys did when they weren't moving cargo. It had to be something fairly dangerous, because why else would this ship be outfitted with enough armor and cannons to be just shy of an actual battleship? As I touched down on the floor I resolved myself to ask Uncle Lynx about it when he got here. The others entered the room after another couple minutes pass, Uncle Lynx asking Mom where I was.

"So where's Akairo at anyways? The last time any of the crew said they'd seen him was several hours ago in the mess hall." He says.

"I'm right here… I came down here to get some room to think, and I've been meaning to ask Uncle Lynx. What exactly is it that you do? The ship's doctor mentioned he started keeping anti-venom after something he called 'The Incident' and the the ship is just shy of being a proper battleship." I say causing him to jump slightly, before he chuckles slightly at my question.

"Well "The Incident' is a rather long story that we don't really have time to tell right now, but the answer to your question is this. I'm an Adventurer, I take jobs from people who need help, and in turn I get paid for it, from time-to-time those jobs led me and the crew into ahem "troublesome" situations. The job we're on right now is delivering these supplies to Signal because the ship that normally does it had a busted power relay that fried most of the wiring in the ship, meaning it couldn't make the trip because it needed to get repaired." he answered.

"That enough talking you two, we came here to let a...friend, know that someone is looking for the hammer, and you two standing around talking isn't going to make that happen." Mom says smacking the both of us upside the head before walking towards the cargo ramp with a slight limp. We both look at each other, and realizing that she's right, silently nodding to each other we begin to follow after her.

"So Mom where exactly are we going to meet this 'Scarecrow' I believe you called him?" Rowan asks falling into pace beside us. That...was a rather good question, one I was curious as to the answer what the answer was as well.

"I don't know where exactly he is or what his scroll number is, but I do know that his former brother-in-law lives on the island. If anyone knows where he is or can get in contact with him, it's him." she answers, not looking back at us. That...was rather disappointing if I'm being honest, I had assumed that she had some secret scroll number or something she'd use to get in touch with him.On the upside, we were heading to Taiyang's place, which meant I'd probably be seeing Yang and Ruby, which meant I'd finally have a guestimation for how much time there was until Cinder's attack on Beacon. For the next several minutes I may or may not have received strange looks from Rowan for the rather giddy expression on my face.

After a good fifteen or twenty minutes of walking the road finally opens up to a relatively familiar clearing and house. I say relatively familiar because it was only shown in a couple scenes that I had seen years ago, so some details were a bit fuzzy. I sweep my vision over the house, trying to get a sense if anyone was home when I saw movement in a second floor window. I snap my gaze to the window just in time to see a head duck back into its' hiding place behind the window's curtains. Judging by the head of dark hair and knowing who lived here I could only chuckle slightly at their action, it was totally something she'd do.

"Something funny over there Akairo? Or is the shock from a couple of hours ago finally settling in?" Rowan asks while lightly elbowing me in the side.

"You and I both know that the answer to that second question is a big fat No, but yeah I did see something funny, like the little girl currently trying to look at us through a second floor window without us seeing her." I say in response to his question. As if in response to my statement the young Ruby Rose pokes her head once more around the curtain before freezing upon seeing me look straight at her. Just to be cheeky I offer up a slight smile and a short wave, she responds with what I can only assume is an 'eep' before she runs out of view. I turn back towards Mom who was standing at the door, arm raised as if to knock, before she could however the door was opened.

"Yes? May I help you all?" Taiyang asks stepping outside while closing the door behind himself. His expression was one of caution, but not outright hostility or suspicion, which was 'hopefully' a good sign.

"Hello my name is Kira Raion, I'm an...acquaintance of Qrow's and I need to get a message to him, unfortunately in his inebriated state the last time we met, he neglected to actually give me a way to contact him. He mentioned your name and the fact that you lived on Patch in the past so I was hoping you had some way of getting in touch with him." Mom says in answer to his question. His eyes narrow slightly and he subconsciously shift himself in between Mom and the door to the house.

"I'm afraid he's travelling at the moment, I could try to call him on my scroll if you like." he replies.

"That would be very much appreciated, and if he doesn't remember my name tell him I'm the one who had to bail his ass out of hot water when that Lionell almost bit off his arm a couple years ago." She says with a hint of anger in her voice. Taiyang gives her a look but pulls out his Scroll and taps a couple of times before holding the phone up to his ear.

"Hey Qrow, I've got some people here at the house trying to get in touch with you, one of them says they're an acquaintance of yours...Her name's Kira Raion, she says if you don't remember the name to tell you she was the one who had to bail your ass out of hot water when a Lionel almost bit off your arm...uh-huh...yep...He says to tell you that he had that handled just fine, and to go ahead and tell him what you wanted." he says to Mom. During the course of his conversation the suspicion in his eyes and body language fades slowly vanishing altogether at Qrow's response.

"Tell him someone was looking for the Forge Hammer, he'll know what I'm talking about." she replies.

"She says someone was looking for the Forge Hammer, whatever the hell that means." Taiyang begins, before wincing at the volume of the expletives Qrow began releasing. He was so loud that I could make out some of the swears, and they were bad enough that they would make a sailor blush crimson. He then promptly holds out the Scroll to Mom,who takes it wordlessly and begins to try and calm Qrow.

"...Yes Qrow it's safe...yes I'm completely sure of that...Right now only two people on the face of Remnant know exactly where it is...One is myself and the other is my youngest son…for the foreseeable future my family and I are going to be staying on Patch, If you'd let the others know that I'd appreciate it...Will do, thank you Qrow." The conversation isn't really that long, and once it's finished Mom hands Taiyang his Scroll back. What followed was a brief introduction of the rest of us as Taiyang invited us into his house for Dinner.

"Yang! Ruby! We've got guests joining us for dinner so you'd better be presentable when you come down here!" He shouts up the stairs. One thing I had noticed when he talked was that his voice didn't sound like I remembered, that may have been because my memories of the little stuff was fuzzy, or it may have been the fact that they were real people here instead of characters on a screen, but whatever it was, it made them just that more real to me. Even with the past fourteen years of living on Remnant, I guess I still thought of Ruby, Yang, and the others as characters in a show, rather than as real people. Right that was going to stop right now, if we were going to be living on Patch for the foreseeable future, I'd likely be seeing these people a lot over the next several years, the faster I got the image of them as just characters from a show out of my head the better. As I'm shaking those thoughts from my head I hear two pairs of feet walking down the stairs, my ears twitching slightly in response.

"I guess it's lucky I decided not to lay around the house in pajamas today, because you know Xiao-Long it takes me to get ready, I'd probably be late for dinner." A younger version of Yang puns as she walks into the room. The first thing that I had noticed was that she looked to be roughly my age, she was slightly shorter than my current five foot six. Her trademark golden hair was put up in a loose ponytail that hung down to a little past her shoulders, her hair was only the first thing different from what I had seen in the show. Her outfit for one, was considerably less revealing than in the show and she was much less...ahem…'developed' than in the future. I promptly shut down that train of thought with extreme prejudice, I didn't need to feel like a creep thank you very much brain. Anyways, her outfit looked like a mix between the one she wore during the story she tells Blake in 'Burning the Candle' and the outfit she wore during the events of 'Paint the Town'. I use Observe on her to try and get a read on how I stack up to her in terms of level and stats wise, as I do so a notification pops up that Observe went up a level. I guess I must have been close to leveling it up again before figuring out that how much I know about what I'm Observing influence how much information the skill gives me.

[Due to constant use the skill [Observe] has leveled up]

[Upon reaching level 10 with the skill [Observe] it now reveals status effects and additional information]

[Name: Yang Xiao-Long

[Title: The Little Sunny Dragon

Level: 7

Age: 14

HP: 1760/1760

AP:1000/1000

Str: 15 (1.5) = 16.5

Dex: 11 (1.1) = 12.1

Vit: 16 (1.6) = 17.6

Int: 17 (-5) = 12

Wis: 15 (-5) = 10

Cha: 13

Luck: 5

Status Effects:

"Abandonment Issues" This person has experienced abandonment by a loved one, to cope, this person has adopted an aloof and uncaring personality and pretends to be less intelligent and more brash.

Effect: Reduces Int. and Wis. by 5 until issues are resolved.

"Xiao Long Genes" The Xiao-Long's have been fighters for many generations, this carries on into the next generation, making them naturally stronger and healthier than their peers.

Effect: Every two levels adds 1 to the base stats of Str. and Vit.

Feeling: Amused, Curious

"Yaang! Wait for me!" Ruby shouts as she skids into the room, trips over Zwei, and faceplants right into the floor. Ouch, that looked like it hurt, I take the chance to Observe her while I walk over to help her up, and I raised an eyebrow at the information it have me.

[Name: Ruby Rose

[Title: The Girl with The Silver Eyes

Level: 5

Age: 12

HP:985/990

AP: Locked

Str: 10 (1.0) = 11.0

Dex: 15 (1.5) = 16.5

Vit: 9 (0.9) = 9.9

Int: 10

Wis: 10

Cha: 10 - (5) = 5

Luck: ??

Status Effects:

"Silver Eyes" There it's an old legend of a group of silver eyed warriors, who held an incredible power that they used to fight back the darkness. It is unknown if this legend is true, but perhaps there is some truth to this legend.

Effects: ???

"Socially Awkward" Exactly as it says on the tin.

Effects: Imposes a negative five penalty to charisma to interactions with those not well known to this person.

Effects:???

Feeling: In Pain, Embarrassed

"Hey there Red, need a hand?" I pun as I walk over and offer her a hand up. This brings a laugh from both Taiyang and Yang, and a distressed groan from Rowan and Ruby. She accepts the hand and pulls herself to her feet and brushes the imaginary dust from her skirt.

"...Thank you…" she mutters quietly while looking at the ground, obviously embarrassed from her epic faceplant. She then walks slowly over to the table and takes her seat while Yang delivers some good natured ribbing to her younger half-sister.

"Hey Blondy, I noticed you made a name pun when you walked in, you do that often?" I ask Yang as I take my own seat at the table. A look of anger flashes over her face at the nickname, before it slowly morphs into a smirk.

"For your information, yes I do make punny jokes a lot, Kitty Cat." She replies with a shit eating grin at her oh so clever comeback.

"Oh? Bringing out the clever comebacks already? Guess I touched a nerve with that first remark. By the way, that last pun was pawsitivly clawful." I fire back at the blonde brawler. This brings about another round of groaning from our siblings, this time joined by the sound of chuckling coming from Taiyang and my Dad, Mom also lets out an exasperated sigh as she rolls her eyes. Yang looks about ready to let loose with another quip before Mom cuts her off.

"Alright enough you two, Akairo, we are guests here be polite, or will I have to beat manners into you again?" Mom asks with a slight glare, the 'You are embarrassing yourself, shut up or else' glare. I wisely shut up and sit down, as I had no intention of going through Mom's lessons on manners again, those were a pain in the ass, literally. The rest of the meal was passed with periods of comfortable silence as people ate, and awkward small talk that Dad and Taiyang were attempting to have, all in all it was a peaceful affair, that is until the meal was finished.

"Say Kitty Cat, would you be up for a spar? I see you got those things on your wrist, so I assume you're a hand to hand fighter, just like me right? If that's the case, I wanna see who's the stronger of us. So...what do you say?" Yang asks immediately after the meal is finished, gesturing to the collapsed form of the basic gauntlets I made with Dad a while back. I assumed the thinking pose while I thought over the request, I was interested for sure, but I needed to decide if I really wanted to or not, after all this was a main character we were talking about here.

Well, the offer is certainly interesting, and from what I know total in character for Yang, from what I saw when I Observed her, we were dead equal in terms of Strength, but I had a higher Dexterity and she had a higher Vitality. Granted that may not come into play if we decided to do a tournament style spar, where the first one with their Aura to go into the red, in which case I would have a really unfair advantage, what with the higher Wisdom and Intelligence that I get from technically being a semi-adult in a teenager's body, and it's not like I not curious as to how I'd stack up against someone who fights similarly, eh what the hell, might as well.

"Eh, what the hell, tournament style spar, first one with Aura in the red loses, agreed?" I ask after thinking it over. I glance over at the adults in the room, who look at each other for a moment, seemingly having a silent conversation before nodding at each other in agreement. That was also when a quest notification decided to pop up, one I immediately hit yes on.

[New Quest]

[Which of us is stronger?]

You've just been challenged to a spar by the blond brawler herself, time to show off the fruits of your training with your Mom.

[Objective]

Beat or Tie with Yang Xiao-Long in a tournament style spar.

[Bonus Objective]

[Rewards]

Main objective:

200 exp.

Access to the Relationship menu.

Increased closeness with Yang Xiao-Long.

Bonus Objective:

400 exp.

Increased closeness with Yang Xiao-Long

A sparring partner that isn't your Mom.

Failure:

Extremely painful injuries.

Vastly decreased closeness with Yang Xiao-Long.

Accept?

[Y/N]

"Agreed, prepare to get demolished Kitty Cat." Yang says with a smirk as she shakes my outstretched hand. After that we all headed outside into the yard, where there was a lot more room for sparing. The two of us sync our Aura's up to our Scrolls, which we then handed over to Taiyang, who agreed to moderate the spar, and we both take our fighting stances. Her's was similar to boxing, except slightly less grounded than most boxer's, who usually had their feet planted firmly on the ground, she was far more light on her feet, bouncing songs one the balls of her feet. The fighting style Mom had taught me was far more like the martial arts back on earth, even though there were certain moves that could only be pulled off by reinforcing oneself with their Aura, like the high speed movement technique that Mom was so fond of using in our spars, which I promptly used myself the moment Taiyang shouted 'start'. Unfortunately I hadn't quite gotten it down to the level Mom could use it, so while I practically appeared right next to her, I wasn't quite fast enough to just disappear like Mom could, so Yang was still able to see me coming at her, which resulted in her throwing a powerful jab right at my stomach.

I thankfully was able to twist myself away from the majority of the punch, though the punch still slammed into my side. The force of the punch combined with my twisting in an attempt to avoid the blow causes me to spin, which I take advantage of and turn the momentum into a spinning back kick. She quickly ducks beneath the kick but I don't give her a chance to retaliate before the leg that was lifted for the kick is planted back on the ground and the other leg comes up in another kick that she isn't fast enough to dodge. She does manage to bring up her forearm to block it however, though it doesn't really do much and the kick still moves her to the side a bit. After that the two of us back off a bit, that first exchange was just us testing the other, seeing the way the other fights, it was just the warm up, the real fight starts now. I don't really pay much attention after that, losing myself in the thrill of the fight, though I do know that we were pretty much evenly matched, she was putting up a good offense, but due to the difference in speed I avoided more of her punches than she did mine. This continues on for a little while, both of us trading blows, neither of us pulling ahead by a significant margin, though I was the one in the lead at the moment.

"*huff* *huff* I thought you said *huff* you were going to *huff* demolish me *huff* Blondy" I get out between my ragged breathing.

"*huff* *huff* Oh I will *huff* Kitty Cat. *huff* Just waiting *huff* for the right moment." She says, taking equally ragged breaths. I try the same high speed movement technique I tried at the beginning of the fight, and this time, it works, and I hit her I the back of the head with my forearm. However this has the unfortunate side effect of one of her hairs getting caught in one of the joints of the gauntlets I was wearing, witch causes the hair to be pulled out when I move away. I honestly don't even realise this until I see the look of rage in her eyes and I look down at my gauntleted arm and spot the golden blond hair that is trapped between one of the joints. That causes any sense of strategy or semblance of calm that she had to shatter and the pieces to burn, it was also when the BGM started playing 'I Burn', which was surprising because up until that point I had no idea BGM was even a thing that I had. It was in that moment, when her eyes turned red and flames began to flicker in her hair that I truly realized, I had fucked up. With a enraged battlecry Yang rushes forwards much faster than before, and since I was still partially frozen from the realization of the amount of shit I was in, I only had time to bring up my arms into a cross block. That proved to be a mistake as the force of the punch sent me backwards a couple of feet with a profound ache in my forearms from where she hit. I would have shaken my arms to get rid of some of that ache but Yang didn't give me that chance because within moments she was on top of me again. This time I actually dodge the hit instead of trying to block, because if that first hit taught me anything, it was that trying to block her punches whenever she was like this was a bad idea.

I spend the next several moments furiously dodging the rain of blows Yang was currently trying to hit me with, honestly at this point I was just trying to avoid getting hit long enough for her Aura to run into the red because of her using her semblance. That plan quickly died after I got enough distance between us for me to quickly check our respective Aura levels, and what I saw didn't fill me with a lot of hope. While her Aura was going down due to her active semblance it was doing so as a much slower rate than I was hoping, add in the fact that when our earlier exchange of blows was over I was sitting comfortably at a little over half, and after that nasty punch that I blocked was currently just out of the red zone spoke volumes about how hard she was punching right now. It also kept getting harder to dodge her punches, because even though my Aura was protecting me fury for the most part, I was still feeling all the places I had been hit throughout the match, and was beginning to allow down because of it. Seeing that I was likely to lose anyways, I decided if I was going to lose, I was going to go down swinging, so I stepped back, took a deep breath, and moved.

"Lion's Step:..." I breathe out. I take a step, and then I'm in front of her planting a kick into her sternum with my right leg. My leg touches the ground, and then I take another step, and then I'm behind her, pivoting on my right leg to deliver a spinning kick to he back with my left leg. Take a step, punch her in the ribs on her left side, take another step do the same on the right, step, kidney punch, step, kick to the head, step...this continues until I uppercut her on the seventeenth hit, which sends her up into the air. I crouch down, jump up above her, and connect with a brutal spinning axe kick to the stomach for the eighteenth and final hit.

"...Eighteen Consecutive Hits." I finish as I land back on the ground. Yang struggles to her feet after that, and we both go to take a step forward, before our legs give way and we both fall back to the ground in pain.

"Well, considering you both went into the red at roughly the same time, and neither of you are fit to continue, I'm afraid I'm going to have to call this a draw." Taiyang says before walking over and helping Yang back to her feet. Rowan did the same for me and we both get helped back into the house where the quest completion notification pops up.

[Quest Completed]

[Which of us is stronger?]

You've just been challenged to a spar by the blond brawler herself, time to show off the fruits of your training with your Mom.

[Objective: Complete

Beat or Tie with Yang Xiao-Long in a tournament style spar.

[Bonus Objective: Complete

Touch her hair and survive the ordeal.

[Rewards]

Main objective:

200 exp.

Access to the Relationship menu.

Increased closeness with Yang Xiao-Long.

Bonus Objective:

400 exp.

Increased closeness with Yang Xiao-Long

A sparring partner that isn't your Mom.

"Heh, those were some pretty cool moves back there 'Kitty Cat', what do you say about us making this a regular thing, since that matched ended up in a tie?" Yang says after we both get looked over by our respective parents, and then left to our own devices when they went to go talk again on another room.

"I'll gladly take you up on that offer, it'd be nice to have a sparring partner that isn't my Mom, because just between you and me she's a harsh taskmaster when it comes to training." I say in response which is followed by a faint 'I heard that!' from the other room, which causes me to pale significantly and Yang to laugh at the look of horror that brings to my face. Things settle down after that, and the next several days are marked by Mom and Dad finding a place in town, along with filling out the paperwork associated with signing myself up for Signal and Rowan applying to Beacon now that we were in Vale instead of Vacuo. It was a day when I had gone over to the Xiao-Long/Rose household to have another spar with Yang that my particularly strange luck came into play again, because Qrow had finally got here, and he didn't come alone.

'Well, this complicates things' I think upon meeting the eyes of the Headmaster of Beacon Himself, Ozpin.

 **A/N: All right hopefully this satisfies some of you, as I mentioned up top, I have something to announce, I am currently working on another story, which will hopefully keep me from getting burnt out on this one again, as for what it's about, The MC will be in a similar situation as this one, except instead of a world of Monsters, Souls, and Crazy Powers like RWBY, it'll be a world of Mad Science, Machines, and Monsters.**


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